


New beginnings.

by dracdad



Category: Hotel Transylvania (Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-23 17:13:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15611073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracdad/pseuds/dracdad
Summary: Something I wrote at like 3 am because my mind wouldn't let me rest until I did so.





	New beginnings.

  The quiet atmosphere unnerves her -- she's gotten used to sleeping during the day like every other monster, of course -- carefully training herself for the time when all those disgusting and annoying creatures got on board the Legacy.

  But even then, she'd still had the company of the soothing sounds of velvety waves crashing against the side of the ship, and the occasional creaking noises all plastic, wood, and metal made whenever the large vessel gently rocked from one side to the other, and slowly back again.

  However, now, alone in an empty enough room in the famous Hotel Transylvania, a slight sense of panic and loneliness starts to wash over her as she lays awake. Though her mattress is comfortable, and the sheets wrapping her body are warm and very cosy, the stillness of the place makes her inwardly feel rather twitchy as well. Ericka has never been on land for too long. This place is unfamiliar, and although it had been warm and very welcoming, she is still surrounded by both humans and the same monsters she'd been taught all her life to hate and hunt.

  Dracula had been kind; he'd given her space, and her very own room to settle in for now, which she had been endlessly thankful for. They hadn't wanted to rush things, and inviting her to share a room with him just as they'd arrived would have been too much, too quickly. But now, she finds she can't sleep at all, in spite of all of this. The hotel is beautiful and huge -- providing her with a warmth she hadn't known she needed -- but now the emptiness of the room seems to be asphyxiating her.

  A heavy sigh escapes from between her lips and she sits up on her bed, glancing around to subconsciously ground herself to the here and now. Well. Perhaps... she should make herself some tea.

  Her fingers move one piece of clothing aside from inside her neatly organised suitcase, and then another, trying to find something comfortable and appropriate to wear around the building instead of just her white pyjamas. She is a stranger to most, and making bad first impressions is something she definitely wants to avoid. Finally, upon finding something to put on over her top, she stands up and slides the piece of clothing over her head, and her arms through the loose sleeves. This should be okay, for now.

  The old door loudly creaks open a minute later and she peeks into the empty hallway to make sure she hadn't bothered anyone with all the noise. "Can't sleep?" A voice startles her; she glances down to find the shrunken head hanging from her doorknob.

  "Oh, I -- not really. But it's fine! I was just... going to get some fresh air." She offers the other a smile, which is kind of pointless considering the monster had its eyes sewn shut a long time ago. She steps outside and closes the door behind her, informing the door-knocker that she'd probably be back soon. The human feels awkward and really out of place, in spite of everyone's kindness and reassurances, and she's not sure what to do or who to talk to about that.

  She could try talking to Drac but... she has a strong feeling she knows what he'd say anyway.

  Now, what had Mavis told her? Where is the kitchen, again? Thank God for her good sense of orientation, for she doesn't have to ponder too long on which way to go this time around. The hotel is gigantic, and she is pretty certain more than one guest has lost their way more than once before. Endless hallways and rooms make up the majority of the stone-walled building, and it is quite easy not to know where one is or where they are actually headed to, but she thankfully finds the elevators relatively quickly.

  Some humans are up and about -- creatures are used to sleeping at night instead of during the day -- and she greets them with a smile, a little salute, and a polite, "good morning!" of hers. Admittedly, it does feel somewhat comforting to be around some of her own kind for a change, though Ericka has never really had true friends to begin with. Socializing with them had hardly been a necessity.

  She'd grown up with her great-grandfather on board the ship and socialising with other humans isn't something she has too much experience with when her primary goal was an entirely different one. But then again, monsters and human beings aren't as unalike as she'd always thought they were, aren't they? People are people, she'd come to understand recently, no matter the species they belong to, and whatever differences she might find are mostly simply general cultural ones; ones anyone would even find between humans themselves.

  She slips into the kitchen with ease, finding that some of the staff members are already up and working this early -- or is it late for them? -- but soon finds herself being ushered out of the room by a short pointy-nosed gargoyle who gently insists on preparing the soothing beverage for her in her place. They all know perfectly well who she is -- news had spread rather quickly about all that had happened in the city of Atlantis, and yet no one here has so far brought it up or even looked at her badly for being a raised monster hunter.

  And... now she's back to square one, she notes, sitting down at one of the tables of the large dinning room. Feeling useless, alone and uncomfortable yet again, her long fingers impatiently drum against the flat surface of the wooden table.

  "... Miss Ericka?"

  Ah. She recognises that voice. Blue eyes find the boy's wide curious ones staring up at her. His red curly hair is as messy as it always is, but some warmth spreads through the Van Helsing's chest then, and the woman smiles. She's never seen herself much as a family person, but she can't help but care about the Dracula family very deeply already. "Dennis? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be asleep?" A quirked brow from her part makes the child fumble awkwardly with the rolled up piece of paper he's apparently holding in his little hands.

  "Uh... I was just getting a snack. I know I should be in bed, but I... got hungry and I didn't wanna' wake up mommy."

  "Well, shouldn't you go back to bed now? I'm sure she's going to worry if she happens to wake up, and finds out you're not in your room, honey."

"I guess." He seems to momentarily hesitate before speaking again, "and why are you up?"

  "I..." What should she say? She has so very little experience with children, it actually makes her frown to herself, albeit slightly. "... I couldn't sleep. So I decided to come down here and get something nice to drink."

  "But why not?"

  A pause. Oh, darn. She shrugs; briefly looks away. "I don't know. Maybe it's the whole time-zones change." The kid nods, but she isn't sure if he understands what it means. Perhaps he does, but she doesn't truly know how clever children are these days anymore. "What's that?" she asks in spite of herself, trying to change the subject and get the boy to go sleep after this little chat.

  "Nothing!" He quickly hides the paper behind his back.

  "Mhm."

  "Uhm..." he shrinks a little, slowly pulling the rolled up paper from behind his back. "... It's a surprise."

  "A surprise? For whom?"

  "My dad."

  Aw.

  "Can I see it?" she inquires.

  "You won't tell him, will you?"

  "Of course not. I promise."

  "Stake your heart?"

  "Stake my -- ? Sure." She closes her hand into a fist and places it over her chest in what she hopes is the correct gesture. Dennis' smile is a big one as he cheerfully hands her the paper.

  
  "He said something really cool before, and I wanted to make him a drawing."

  Her eyes carefully scan the colourful drawing, and her lips curve upwards before she can help it. Ericka glances down at him. "This looks really good. When were you planning on giving it to him?"

  "Jus' tomorrow. I finished it before you walked in here."

  Her smile turns into a little knowing smirk. "So you weren't here just to get a snack, then?"  
  
  "I uhm..."  
  
  The doors behind her opens, and the gargoyle steps into the room with a tray resting on his dark grey hooves.  
  
  "Oh, ah -- thank you." She gives the piece of paper back to the boy and gently takes the offered tray with the tea and sugar.  
  
  "No need to thank me, Miss." A brief but toothy smile shows the monster's pointy set of teeth before he leaves, and her stomach immediately drops. Does she really deserve all the good treatment she'd been getting?  
  
  "Are you okay?" Hearing such a sweet voice is apparently a good way to snap her from her troubling thoughts.  
  
  "Oh. Yes, I'm fine. I'm just tired, I think."  
  
  "Why don't you go sleep?"  
  
  "Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing?"  
  
  She receives a sheepish look from him. "Yeah, I know. I think I'll go back to bed then."  
  
  "Okay. And be careful."  
  
  "Sure!"  
  
  It's after Dennis is gone that she's free to swim in the depths of her own mind again. The warm liquid she drinks soothes her nerves right away, but she notices she's not as gloomy as she was before. Ericka is part of a warm, open and beautiful family now, and she notes she can't stop smiling upon coming to that nice realisation on her own. Her great grand-father, though he'd taken care of her and raised her had never really done anything for her out of the kindness of his heart like this new family of hers has.  
  
  Sure, she might still feel lonely at times, for the adaptation process will not be brief, but she does have a lot of people around her who truly care about her. And more importantly, Ericka finally knows she's not alone anymore, and she can't wait to start making new amazing memories with all of them.  
  
  She might just be able to properly get some shut-eye tonight after all.


End file.
